Book Ends
by MarsTsar
Summary: Steven and Connie learn something surprising about Lapis.
1. Chapter 1

[Steven and Connie approach the front entrance of the Barn.]

Connie: Wow! I like what they've done to the place! I should've visited them sooner!

Steven: Yeah! You three got on well when we were in space.

Connie: Well, we had a few bumps, but they turned out to be really nice. They were grateful for what you gave them, Steven.

[Steven looks off to the side, appearing slightly tense, scratching his head, nervously smiling.]

Steven: Umm, yeah.

[Pumpkin bursts out of the barn entrance, running towards them.]

Pumpkin: Ruff! Ruff!

Connie: Oh! It was the _four_ of us, too!

[Pumpkin jumps up into Connie, Connie catching him in her arms. Pumpkin starts licking her face.]

Connie: Hahahah, stop it, Pumpkin!

[Peridot leans out of the barn door.]

Peridot: Steven! And Connie, too!

[Peridot runs up to them.]

Peridot: Wait until you see my latest creation in the making! A fully realised 1 to 60 scale replication of the Camp, constructed out of tree-pulp matrix panels! _[Inhales]_ This, Steven. I think this will be my masterpiece.

[The three of them, Connie carrying Pumpkin, enter the barn. Lapis is lounging in her chair with a book]

Lapis: Oh, hey Steven! And hi again, Connie!

Steven: Hi! Connie suggested we do some reading here at the Barn!

[Lapis furrows her brow, but keeps smiling.]

Lapis: Wow, that...that sounds great.

[Pan to one corner of the barn with a layer of packed dirt instead of woodboard floor. A half-constructed compound of huts and stalls made from folded cardboard is built on the layer of dirt, a noticeable groove in the dirt forming what looks like a stream.

Steven: This is amazing, Peridot!

Peridot: Of course, I have yet to find a method to make the canoes survive placement on actual water, but... _[holds up sheets of calculations]_ I have already derived the dimensions and position of every building in the camp via meticulous analysis of frames of _Camp Pining Hearts_. Well, minus Season Five, obviously.

Connie: Why, what's wrong with Season Five?

Peridot: Ugh, what _wasn't_ wrong with Season Five? That was when they got the new animation studio, and all the proportions went weird. I swear Percy became smaller and smaller with every new shot.

[Steven and Peridot continue poring over the model camp, Connie turns back to Lapis and looks at the book in her hands. Connie smiles in amazement.]

Connie: Lapis, you read _Pretty Hairstylist_?!

[Lapis stiffens, begins sweating.]

Lapis: Uhhh, yeeeeeah...?

Connie: I have every copy that came out! I would've brought some if I knew your were a fan! Which one are you on?!

[Lapis's eyes start shifting.]

Lapis: I'm on the one where...uh, well, the one she...she does the... _[Exhales]_ I don't know which one I'm on.

[Connie looks blank.]

Connie: ...Well, that's alright, I guess you only have the issues you could find. Here, I'll lend you the first issues if you wa-

Lapis: That's not the problem. I...

[Lapis starts sweating again, and begins to blush. Steven and Peridot look over to them, Peridot especially looking mortified.]

Steven: Lapis?

[Lapis buries her face in her palm.]

Lapis: I can't read. I've only been looking at the pictures.

[Peridot silently runs over to stand beside her, placing her hand on her shoulder, showing concern.]

Connie: Well... _[puts on reassuring smile]_ how could you? You and Peridot must be older than the _Alphabet_ , never mind modern English, how could _either_ of you know how to read our books?

Steven: Yeah...yeah! _[picks up one of Peridots sheets of calculations]_ I bet I can't read any of your Homeworld writing any better than you could re- _[looks at sheet]_ Uhh, Peridot, this is all in English.

Peridot: ...there isn't exactly a way to write 'Maple Syrup Store' in Homeworld Script.

Connie: How did you learn to read English, Peridot?

Peridot: When I was still trying to connect with Homeworld, I would find samples of your writing in refuse cylinders. Huh. At first I thought you humans just threw away writing you didn't like.

Steven: You learned to read just from finding old newspapers?

[Peridot makes a tiny smile of pride, before reassuringly patting Lapis's shoulder.]

Peridot: Us peridots do a lot of reading. We were made to be good at seeing patterns.

Lapis: I wasn't.

Steven: W...what do you mean?

[Lapis puts down her hand, brings back up her book, looking at the writing.]

Lapis: When I look at the letters, they seem to...float about, mix together. The same word would look different if read two times. I just _can't_ read, in Homeworld or English or anything else.

[Lapis sets down the book on her lap, despondent. The whole barn goes silent.]

Connie: I'll help.

[Everyone turns to Connie, surprised.]

Lapis: What?

[Connie tenses up.]

Connie: Uhh, _if_ you want me to. The school year has just ended, so I can get some books from the library and take the time to help you learn. It won't be a problem on me, I swear.

Lapis: I'm...I'm not sure if I cou-

Peridot: Lapis, I think you should do it.

[Lapis looks at Peridot, unsurely.]

Peridot: Think about the countless things we discovered that we couldn't have even imagined when we first came here. I didn't think I could control metal, or make things of my own design, or care about others like you and Pumpkin and Steven! _[glances at Connie]_ Oh, and Connie, as well. Sure, you weren't _made_ to read, but neither of us were made to do much at all. That hasn't stopped either of us yet.

[Lapis turns to face Steven.]

Steven: _[puppy-dog eyes]_

Lapis: _[Inhales]_ I suppose I can try.

Steven, Connie and Peridot: YES!

Pumpkin: Ruff!

 _Yes, this entire thing is made impossible by one moment in Barn Mates where Lapis reads a card from Peridot, but...shush._


	2. Chapter 2

[Shot of the outside of the Buddwick Public Library; Inside is Lapis and Connie, seated at the tables, with Steven and Peridot walking along the shelves.]

Peridot: You know, I admire the organisational skills of this institution, but I'll have to say the data capacity does not impress me. Even my tablet has more storage than this building, and that is only a speck compared to even a Class-0 Archive.

Steven: Yeah, I guess Homeworld must have really really big super-libraries where all the books are holograms and it's all lines of lights instead of, y'know, wood panels and stuff.

Peridot: Huh, I guess you're not too far off. Though actually going to an archive is very rare, usually we would download the data we needed into our screens. It saves time when we're working on projects.

Steven: Hm, everything I hear about Homeworld makes it sound like a big place. Big and old. You must've read loads of books over the hundreds of years you worked for Homeworld!

[Peridot begins sweating.]

Peridot: Umm, yeah. _[Counting on her fingers]_ Technical documents, historical records, reports on building programs, reference logs on the quality of terrain for Kindergartens...although, I have most of that last one committed to memory.

[Steven looks confused]

Steven: So...no stories? Nothing to read for...fun?

Peridot: Fun? Well, I'll never forget the first time I saw the design of a Handship Gravity Engine. _[sniffs, on the verge of tear]_ So beautiful... [coughs] But no, consumption of data for 'fun' is _not_ encouraged, basically everything accessible has to have some use in some task or another.

[Steven furrows his brow, not liking what Homeworld sounds like.]

Steven: I guess you never really read a story like what we human make, huh?

[Steven turns, and spots one book on the shelf next to him. He pulls it out]

Steven: Oh! Then I have the book to get you started! It's about these...well, the main guy is someone from a race of really short people, and he helps out another group of people that are also pretty short, and they work to go and slay a dragon.

[Steven hands the book to Peridot, to eyes it skeptically.]

Peridot: What's a 'dragon'?

Steven: Oh, they're supposed to be really big lizard things, that fly, and they shoot fire out of their mouths, and they live in giant piles of Gold.

[Peridots eyebrows raise in surprise.]

Peridot: I read nothing about these dragons in the reports from the colony, or during the Rebellion. Did humans make these dragons?

Steven: [chuckles] No, silly. This is just a story, it didn't _really_ happen, humans just like to read it because they... _[stops in thought]_ well, some stories make people feel happy, and other makes them feel sad, but they like both. I couldn't really tell you why. It's a bit like you and Lapis are with Camp Pining Hearts, the characters... _interest_ you, I guess?

[Peridot still looks skeptical.]

Peridot: Why do they want to kill the dragon?

Steven: Well, the other short people are this race that live in forts they make inside mountains, and the dragon threw this group out of their home and took it over for himself, so they're working to take it back so they could live there again.

[Peridots face softens slightly.]

Peridot: They..had their home taken away?

[Steven nods.]

Peridot: Hmm...Steven, I shall read this book.

Steven: Yay!

Librarian, off-screen: Shush!

Steven: Oh, _[whispers]_ sorry.

[Steven and Peridot walk to Connie and Lapis at the tables, Peridot already engrossed in the book. Lapis is holding a book close to her face, squinting at the words. Connie is sitting next to her with a pad of paper in front of her.]

Steven: How's it going?

Connie: It's going great, Steven. We've gone through the sounds of the letters and we're starting to read!

Lapis: 'Nad- _And_...he...say-ed...' say-ed?

Connie: 'Said'.

Lapis: 'Said...to soo- _us_...wuh- _why_...do oyu- _you_...sit ther-ee...'

Connie: 'There', like 'Here and there'.

[Lapis begins sweating.]

Lapis: Stars... 'There...lick- _like_...that'. What is that squiggle, at the end?

Connie: That's a question mark. It means the sentence was a question.

[Peridot chuckled.]

Peridot: You'd think they'd write it _before_ the sentence, not _after_ it.

Connie: _[sternly]_ Peridot.

[Peridot dives back into her book.]

Lapis: 'I..ken-oo...' ken-oo?

Connie: 'Know', like knowing where you are.

[Lapis slams the book onto the table, baring teeth in frustration.]

Lapis: Why is there a 'k' in 'know'?!

Steven: Lapis, please! It's alright!

[Lapis sits shaking, her fists balled and on the table. Peridot throws down her book and rests a hand on her shoulder.]

Peridot: Lapis, it's fine. C'mon, look at me, it's OK.

[Lapis turns to look at Peridot, then looks down at Peridots book.]

Lapis: Let me see that.

[Reluctantly, Peridot picks up the book and hands it, first page open, to Lapis. Lapis looks lost in the text, breathing quickening in pace, before she puts it down and hides her face in her hand.]

Lapis: How many pages have you read?

Peridot: ...five.

Lapis: _[Exhales]_ ...I'm broken.

Peridot: No you're not! There's nothing to say you can't read as well as I can!

Lapis: What's the point of me doing this if I mess up every word?! That one page would take me a day at best!

[All eyes turn to the Librarian, standing before the table with a blank expression.]

Connie: Oh, we're so sorry, we'll check-out these books and le-

Librarian: Nono, it's alright, I heard the whole thing...[Librarian turns away, uncomfortable, but turns back, looking directly at Lapis.] Look, I had a similar thing to you, growing up. I would mess up words in my head. It still gives me trouble, but I can tell you, overcoming it was the best thing I ever did.

[Lapis looks down at the book in front of her.]

Librarian: Please, keep going. Just...try to keep it quiet.

Connie: ...thanks. _[Turns to Lapis.]_ Hey, how about I read it to you, then we start again? Get used to the sounds?

Lapis: _[Nods.]_ Yeah, let's try that.

Connie: OK.. _[Shifts closer to Lapis, picks up the book, making sure Lapis can see it.]_ 'The Sun did not shine, it was too wet to play. So we sat in the house, all that cold, cold wet day...

[Steven views the two at the table, putting on a smile.]


	3. Chapter 3

[Shot of the Big Donut. Steven is walking out of the front entrance, bag in hand. Peridot is standing outside, looking out into the distance.]

Steven: _[Waving into the store.]_ Bye, Sadie! _[To Peridot.]_ How are they doing?

[Cut to Connie and Lapis walking down the beachfront, Connie pointing to various labels and signs, Lapis squinting to read each one.]

Peridot: They're...ok.

Steven: I didn't know gems could have...flaws of that kind. But it's nice seeing her-

Peridot: It's not a flaw. Flaws aren't meant to happen.

Steven: ...Peridot?

[Peridot turns to Steven, sighs.]

Peridot: I've made a lot of gems as a kindergartener. I know how they're designed, what they're designed _for_. I've never made a lapis, but I know how they're made. They, like all gems, I guess, are made with...weaknesses.

Steven: Weaknesses?

Peridot: A gem is supposed to be good at a job, and _only_ that job. For peridots, that means pattern recognition and memory, and weak physical stature. It makes us need technolgy. A lapis controls water, they need to in order to help terraform colony planets. That makes them extremely powerful on new worlds, and extremely dangerous if they rebel. So, they're made so that it's hard for them to read. It helps to control them.

[Steven looks into the distance, seeing Lapis sitting down on a bench with Connie.]

Steven: Have... _you_ , ever made a gem like that?

[Peridot looks to the ground, ashamed.]

Peridot: You had faith in me even when I didn't have faith in myself. I thought that I could so the same, but she's struggling more than I thought she would. I'm scared if I've just set her up for disappointing herself.

[Steven rubs his chin, deep in thought.]

Steven: Hmmm. We'll just have to see. And I think I might have an idea...

[Cut to the Barn, in the evening. Peridot is in a hammock with Pumpkin, sleeping. Steven, Connie and Lapis are on the ground with a few books. Lapis is smiling and looking into the book while Connie reads]

Connie: 'Not in the dark, not in a tree! Not in a car, you let me be!' _[Looks down at watch.]_ Oh, look at the time, I have to get home!

Lapis: Wuh-wait, aren't you going to finish this one! Please?

Connie: I'm sorry, Lapis, Mom is very strict about me getting home on time. Maybe tomorrow.

Steven: Yeah, we'll be sure to be back in the morning.

[Lapis picks up the book, looking disappointed.]

Lapis: Alright, I guess I can wait.

Connie: We can leave the books here, that'll save us from bringing them back up again. Goodnight, Lapis!

Steven: Yeah, goodnight! Say goodnight to Peridot for us if she wakes up.

[Cut to Peridot in the hammock, mumbling mid-sleep with Pumpkin sleeping on her belly.]

Peridot: Nya, mmm, hum.

[Cut back to the group, Lapis sets down the book and keeps sitting on the ground, chin on her knees.]

Lapis: ...goodnight, guys.

[Steven and Connie walk out of the barn. Once outside, they stand still, ducking their heads and looking back to the barn entrance.]

Connie: [whisper] Are you sure this will work?

Steven: [whisper] I don't know. I remember Dad doing it on me.

[Steven and Connie peer inside to see Lapis still sitting with the books. She picks up the book she set down and stares at it. She stands up and walks over to Peridots hammock.

Lapis: Uhh, Peridot, can yo-

[Peridot mumbles audibly louder, interrupting Lapis.]

Lapis: I...guess not.

[Lapis walks to her recliner, laying down inside it. She leans back and closes her eyes, in a position ready for sleep, but she soon opens them up, sits up and looks at the book again, frustrated. After a moment, she opens the book.]

Lapis: Alright...'I...do net- _not_ , like them, in a...box...I do not like them, wh- _with_ a fox...'

[Cut to Peridot, turning towards Lapis and opening one of her eyes.]

Lapis: 'I will not ate- _eat_ them in a ho- _house_...', give me strength... 'I do not...like them with a...mouse...

[Cut to Steven and Connie, eyes widen.]

Lapis: 'I...do not like them here or there, I do not like them...anywhere!'

[Lapis forms her wings, flaps herself forward into a standing position, holds the book above her.]

Lapis: 'I DO NOT LIKE GREEN EGGS AND HAM!'

[A thump is heard to the side, Peridot and Pumpkin are on the ground, Peridot struggles getting up into a stand. She is smiling.]

Peridot: Lapis!

[Peridot runs towards Lapis, wrapping her arms around her. Pumpkin comes up and jumps on her legs..]

Peridot: I'm proud of you. Keep going.

Lapis: _[giggle]_ Alright, a few more tonight.

[Cut back to Steven and Connie.]

Connie: Should we go in?

Steven: _[smiling]_ Nah, I think they've got it.

[Star-Zoom into the three Barn Mates, eyes inside a book.]


End file.
